Scientists Invent Particles That Will Let You Live Without Breathing. - Polidicks

[quote] The microparticles consist of a single layer of lipids (fatty molecules) that surround a tiny pocket of oxygen gas, and are delivered in a liquid solution. An infusion of these microparticles into animals with low blood oxygen levels restored blood oxygen saturation to near-normal levels, within seconds. When the trachea was completely blocked -- a more dangerous "real world" scenario -- the infusion kept the animals alive for 15 minutes without a single breath, and reduced the incidence of cardiac arrest and organ injury. The microparticle solutions are portable and could stabilize patients in emergency situations, buying time for paramedics, emergency clinicians or intensive care clinicians to more safely place a breathing tube or perform other life-saving therapies, says Kheir. The microparticle solutions are portable and could stabilize patients in emergency situations, buying time for paramedics, emergency clinicians or intensive care clinicians to more safely place a breathing tube or perform other life-saving therapies, says Kheir. "This is a short-term oxygen substitute -- a way to safely inject oxygen gas to support patients during a critical few minutes," he says. "Eventually, this could be stored in syringes on every code cart in a hospital, ambulance or transport helicopter to help stabilize patients who are having difficulty breathing." The microparticles would likely only be administered for a short time, between 15 and 30 minutes, because they are carried in fluid that would overload the blood if used for longer periods, Kheir says. Kheir also notes that the particles are different from blood substitutes, which carry oxygen but are not useful when the lungs are unable to oxygenate them. Instead, the microparticles are designed for situations in which the lungs are completely incapacitated. Kheir began investigating the idea of injectable oxygen in 2006, after caring for a little girl who sustained a severe brain injury resulting from a severe pneumonia that caused bleeding into her lungs and severely low oxygen levels. Despite the team's best efforts, she died before they could place her on a heart-lung machine. Frustrated by this, Kheir formed a team to search for another way to deliver oxygen. "Some of the most convincing experiments were the early ones," he says. "We drew each other's blood, mixed it in a test tube with the microparticles, and watched blue blood turn immediately red, right before our eyes." Over the years, Kheir and his team have tested various concentrations and sizes of the microparticles to optimize their effectiveness and to make them safe for injection. "The effort was truly multidisciplinary," says Kheir. "It took chemical engineers, particle scientists and medical doctors to get the mix just right." In the studies reported in the paper, they used a device called a sonicator, which uses high-intensity sound waves to mix the oxygen and lipids together. The process traps oxygen gas inside particles averaging 2 to 4 micrometers in size (not visible without a microscope). The resulting solution, with oxygen gas making up 70 percent of the volume, mixed efficiently with human blood. "One of the keys to the success of the project was the ability to administer a concentrated amount of oxygen gas in a small amount of liquid," Kheir says. "The suspension carries three to four times the oxygen content of our own red blood cells." Intravenous administration of oxygen gas was tried in the early 1900s, but these attempts failed to oxygenate the blood and often caused dangerous gas embolisms. "We have engineered around this problem by packaging the gas into small, deformable particles," Kheir explains. "They dramatically increase the surface area for gas exchange and are able to squeeze through capillaries where free gas would get stuck." The study was funded by three awards from the Technology Development Fund at Boston Children's Hospital Boston and a U.S. Department of Defense Basic Research Award to Kheir. Source(s): [URL]http://gizmodo.com/5921868/scientists-invent-particles-that-will-let-you-live-without-breathing[/URL] [URL]http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120627142512.htm[/URL] [/quote] It's great to have an injection of fresh air. +1 Science.

Oh shit that's incredibly useful

holy fuck

Crazy shit right there.

I can see the usefulness of this when we move our asses in space. Or simply sitting in front of my computer not needing to breath.

Atlantis here we come

[QUOTE]delivered in a liquid solution[/QUOTE] Makes me think of this :v: [img]http://orbitalvector.com/Aquatic/Liquid%20Breathing%20Rigs/abyss-liquid-breathing.jpg[/img]

[QUOTE=Jacknife;36562790]Atlantis here we come[/QUOTE] Nah we'll need liquid breathing for that, with this you would still have a big pocket of empty in your body and the oceanic pressure will still crush you without high pressure in the chest.

So I can breathe underwater like in Harry Potter now?

[QUOTE=DrLuke;36562834]So I can breathe underwater like in Harry Potter now?[/QUOTE] No but you can not breathe underwater instead.

pff finally...

[QUOTE=Simski;36562798]Makes me think of this :v: [img]http://orbitalvector.com/Aquatic/Liquid%20Breathing%20Rigs/abyss-liquid-breathing.jpg[/img][/QUOTE] And that, was, infact real, well, maybe not on the part of the actors, but that scene with the rat? yeah that was actually done, no trickery, with a real rat and real liquid breathing fluid.

Awesome, so theoretically, it'd be possible to stay underwater for very long periods of time by administering timely doses of oxygen (assuming the solution dissolves faster than the oxygen is consumed). Also, imagine how freaky it would be for the first time... Holding your breath for a minute underwater, feeling woozy, injecting this stuff, and within seconds feel just as if you had taken a bunch of good, deep breaths of fresh air - just without opening any airways at all.

[QUOTE=just-a-boy;36562907]Awesome, so theoretically, it'd be possible to stay underwater for very long periods of time by administering timely doses of oxygen (assuming the solution dissolves faster than the oxygen is consumed). Also, imagine how freaky it would be for the first time... Holding your breath for a minute underwater, feeling woozy, injecting this stuff, and within seconds feel just as if you had taken a bunch of good, deep breaths of fresh air - just without opening any airways at all.[/QUOTE] You'd be much better off with liquid breathing, bear in mind that this system is not for prolonged use as stated in the article, whereas liquid breathing is actually designed for divers and to help folk in hospital (you can put drugs in the oxygen medium so it repairs the lungs while you still breathe but the muscles can get a rest)

So wait, it's lipids surrounded by Oxygen gas? Wouldn't too much of that be toxic due to the pure O₂ content? [editline]1st July 2012[/editline] [QUOTE=Pierrewithahat;36562936]You'd be much better off with liquid breathing, bear in mind that this system is not for prolonged use as stated in the article, whereas liquid breathing is actually designed for divers and to help folk in hospital (you can put drugs in the oxygen medium so it repairs the lungs while you still breathe but the muscles can get a rest)[/QUOTE] Hell, having tried it myself, I can tell you that long periods of liquid breathing would get VERY uncomfortable, simply because it's such a foreign feeling to be forcing liquid in and out of your lungs instead of gas. I can't imagine how it would feel to not be expanding/contracting your lungs [I]at all[/I].

Wait, so, if you take this, we could BREATH IN SPACE?

Is it wrong I immediately thought of the liquid from Evangelion?

[QUOTE=Aerkhan;36563234]Wait, so, if you take this, we could BREATH IN SPACE?[/QUOTE] No, the pressure loss will still fuck you up big time.

[QUOTE=Aerkhan;36563234]Wait, so, if you take this, we could BREATH IN SPACE?[/QUOTE] Not Breath, yes My only fear about this is the time it can last. What if during that time we forget how to breath and then this wears off?

[QUOTE=Michael haxz;36563341]Not Breath, yes My only fear about this is the time it can last. What if during that time we forget how to breath and then this wears off?[/QUOTE] How do you forget how to breathe?

[QUOTE=Stopper;36563357]How do you forget how to breathe?[/QUOTE] [IMG]http://www.facepunch.com/image.php?u=310100&dateline=1337183548[/IMG]

This is awesome.

[B]THE FUTURE.[/B] [B]IS HERE.[/B] I typed that in this guys voice. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwOG3LLcwfM[/media]

This is going to be great in hospitals

[QUOTE=madnath619;36563337]Is it wrong I immediately thought of the liquid from Evangelion?[/QUOTE] would be great to breathe orange-tang

[quote]"Some of the most convincing experiments were the early ones," he says. "We drew each other's blood, mixed it in a test tube with the microparticles, and watched blue blood turn immediately red, right before our eyes."[/quote] What

[QUOTE=Stopper;36563357]How do you forget how to breathe?[/QUOTE] Never know

Heh, misleading title. It's only short term. No underwater or in space breathing, guys.

[QUOTE=Pierrewithahat;36562829]Nah we'll need liquid breathing for that, with this you would still have a big pocket of empty in your body and the oceanic pressure will still crush you without high pressure in the chest.[/QUOTE] Things like Perfluorohexane can allow you to fill your lungs with a liquid and breathe. There is enough oxygen dissolved and substances like these are often used in premature births when babies have under developed lungs. Fill the lungs with a liquid that has sufficient oxygen in it and the body can still use that oxygen within the solvent.

[QUOTE=Michael haxz;36563341]Not Breath, yes My only fear about this is the time it can last. What if during that time we forget how to breath and then this wears off?[/QUOTE] You can't forget how to breathe, just like how you can't learn how to breathe. It is subconscious.